Container, in Particular an Ampoule

ABSTRACT

The invention relates to a container, in particular an ampoule, which consists of at least one layer of plastic material and which comprises a discharge chamber ( 10 ) wherein a discharge medium can be stored and discharged via at least one container opening ( 12 ) which can be closed respectively by means of a closeable closing part ( 14 ). The invention is characterised in that the discharge chamber ( 10 ) comprises at least one additional container opening ( 16 ) which can be closed by means of an additional closeable closing part ( 18 ). For an individual container, at least two different types of container openings ( 12, 16 ) are provided thereon which are economical to produce and can lead to a plurality of connection solutions.

The invention relates to a container, in particular an ampule, consisting of at least one layer of plastic material, with a delivery chamber in which at least one delivery medium can be stored which can be delivered via at least one container opening which can be closed by means of a detachable closure part.

DE 38 33 036 C2 discloses a double chamber container, especially a double chamber ampule, with two chambers formed by two receptacles located in parallel next to one another and which have removable closures which are molded to a single twist closure. In the known solution the two receptacles are detachably connected to one another, the neck part of one receptacle which forms the fill and/or removal opening being provided with a conical outer jacket surface which tapers toward the free end of this neck part and the neck part of the other receptacle which forms the fill and/or removal opening being provided with an inner cone which is made to correspond to the outer cone of the other receptacle and tapers against the interior of the container.

With the known double chamber solution, the contents of the two containers can be brought together and mixed without an additional receptacle being necessary for this purpose. The tight plug closure by way of the cones also allows the two receptacles to be shaken in the known solution. Because the two closures are molded onto a single twist closure, they can be removed from the neck part which bears them essentially at the same time using this twist closure and a mixing process can be initiated. If in the known solution at least one of the two receptacles can be furthermore deformed, before producing the plug connection it can be somewhat compressed, resulting in a slight underpressure by which the liquid (delivery medium) can be sucked out of the other container. Furthermore it is ensured that the neck part of one container forms an inner cone which for ampules is advantageously made according to the standards for medical devices, so that the cone of a syringe can be inserted into the neck part. Furthermore it is possible not to fill one receptacle. In the joined state a relatively large amount of space is then available. This can be advantageous for example when the contents of the filled receptacle must be moved back and forth or vigorously shaken before use, for example to facilitate its application.

The disadvantage in the known solution is that each container always has only one special type of container opening so that only pairs can ever be connected to one another in this way on containers with their corresponding associated delivery openings. Since these containers are generally combined in a configuration of several next to one another in blocks of ampules, problems can arise when the pertinent pairs, especially after their separation from the ampule block, must be properly collected and matched. If the containers are used individually, it cannot moreover be precluded that for the intended connection possibility in the form of the delivery openings on the respective delivery chambers there is not directly a proper filling and/or removal connection on site. Furthermore, in the known solution production costs are increased since tools for two different types of containers must be made available.

On the basis of this prior art, the object of the invention is to further improve the known container solution such that it does not have the described disadvantages, that in particular it can be produced favorably in terms of production technology and has higher variance with respect to its connection systematics. The pertinent object is achieved by a container with the features of claim 1 in its entirety.

In that, as specified in the characterizing part of claim 1, the delivery chamber has at least one further container opening which can be closed respectively by means of another detachable closure part, for the individual container at least two different types of container openings are implemented which, made appropriately, can be connected to the respectively other type of container opening, when an adjacent ampule or an adjacent container which is made exactly the same as the indicated container is involved. Since while retaining the advantages of the double chamber solution in the prior art consequently only one type of container is required, the tools and accordingly the production costs can be reduced.

The container according to the invention with its different types of container openings can be coupled to existing removal systems on site by properly coupling an existing fill and/or removal connection to one of the existing types of container openings which meet medical standards in this respect.

Preferably provision is made such that the respective container opening forms a fill and/or removal point for the respective delivery medium which is located on the free end of the neck part which undergoes transition into the delivery chamber and that the various types of container openings have neck configurations which are different from one another for connecting different fill and/or removal connections. If preferably one type of container opening has a neck part which tapers conically towards its free end with its outer jacket surface or is cylindrical, and the other type of container openings having another neck part which widens conically towards its free end with its inner jacket surface or is cylindrical, both standardized male and also female connection points, which in technical terms are also called Luer locks, are designed for the container.

In an especially preferred embodiment of the container according to the invention, the delivery chamber and/or the respective neck part have at least one catch means for engaging at least one corresponding catch means of the respective fill and/or removal connection. In addition to a reliable fixing possibility of the respective connection to the container, moreover plausibility checking is redundantly possible for the purpose of that the applied connection is matched to the associatable delivery opening, in any event when the corresponding catch means appropriately interact with one another.

The container as claimed in the invention will be detailed below using one embodiment as shown in the drawings. The figures are schematic and not to scale.

FIG. 1 shows a front view of an ampule block with a total of four individual containers,

FIG. 2 shows in part a side view of an individual container as shown in FIG. 1,

FIG. 3 shows a cutaway view of the container connection in which the top part of a container is connected via a Luer lock connection to the bottom part of another container.

The ampule block shown in FIG. 1 is shown only incompletely and depicts a total of four containers, and the row of containers can be continued accordingly to both sides. The individual containers are shaped in the so-called blow molding process or by means of a vacuum from plastic materials which are accordingly suited for this purpose. Furthermore, it is possible to produce the containers using the bottelpack® process in which in a working station the containers are blow-molded, filled under sterile conditions and sealed. During the simultaneous deformation of both one and also the adjacent container, between the body of the two containers a parting zone which holds them together is produced and keeps first the two adjacent containers connected to one another, but can be separated by one container relative to the other container being moved around the parting zone.

Each container has a delivery chamber 10 in which a delivery medium can be stored. In this connection the individual containers of an ampule block can have the same delivery medium or those different from one another, in particular those which can be mixed with one another, and furthermore it is possible to leave the delivery chamber 10 empty or to store a gaseous medium therein which then accordingly interacts optionally with the delivery media of the adjacent containers. The delivery medium can be delivered via a container opening 12 which can be closed by means of a detachable closure part 14. Furthermore, the respective delivery chamber 10 has at least one other container opening 16 which can be sealed by means of another detachable closure part 18.

The respective container opening 12, 16 forms a filling and/or removal point for the respective delivery medium, which point is located on the free end of the neck part 20 or 22 which undergoes transition into the delivery chamber 10, the different types of container openings 12, 16 having neck configurations 20, 22 which differ from one another for connecting different fill and/or removal connections, especially in the form of the corresponding neck parts 22 and 20 of another container.

Thus one type of container opening 16 has a neck part 22 which tapers conically towards its free end with its outer jacket surface, the other type of container openings 12 having a further neck part 20 which is made essentially cylindrical; but it can also widen conically toward its free end with its inner jacket surface. In particular, in one cylindrical configuration there is corresponding calibration in order to ensure a good fitting seat with the cone to be inserted, for example in the form of the neck part 22.

This connection situation is shown accordingly in FIG. 3, the neck part 20 of the subjacent container having a first cylindrical fitting surface 24 and another, second, overlying fitting surface 26. Between the two fitting surfaces 24 and 26 within the neck part 20 there is a cavity 28 which together with the conical outer jacket surface of the penetrating neck part 22 ensures that sterile-sealing contact via the fitting surfaces 24, 26 occurs. For precision-fitting contact the stiffening crosspieces 30 which run to either side and which form a corresponding counterstay to the spreading motion relative to the neck part 20 are used. These stiffening crosspieces 30 are initially a component of the closure part 14, after removing the middle part 32 of the closure part 14 the container opening 12 being cleared for engagement of the male engagement part 22. The closure parts 14, 18 are thus made at least partially as a twist closure which is conventional in this domain, after removal of which from a given weakened parting site a removal opening can be cleared for the pertinent ampule products. In this other lower closure part 18 this parting site 34 is detachably closed by a closure ball 36 as part of the other closing part 18. According to the illustrated embodiment, therefore the respectively different types of container openings 12, 16 are located on end sides 38, 40 facing away from one another (top and bottom side).

Furthermore, according to the invention provision is made such that in the radial transverse widening to the neck part 20 on the top side of the container and in the above extension of the respective stiffening crosspiece 30 there is a catch means 42 in the form of a catch projection which can be detachably locked into a corresponding recess as another catch means 44 on the bottom of the delivery chamber of the other container. For this purpose, the recess 44 is made as a concave depression into which the catch projection of the catch means 42 can convexly lock, projecting in an elastically flexible form. For this engagement, as shown in FIG. 1, on the lower end region of the delivery chamber 10 it is provided superficially with fluting 46, an interposed engagement groove 48 forming the recess 44. In an embodiment which will not be not detailed however it is also possible to omit these catch means and to produce the connection only via the conventional Luer lock systematics.

Instead of the illustrated interfitting of the two containers as shown in FIG. 3, however it is also possible to couple the respective container to an external connection in order to effect a removal process in this way. Based on the two different removal systems on the top and on the bottom side of each container the removal possibility is enhanced relative to the medically standardized connection sites provided for this purpose. Furthermore the container in at least one direction can have fixing openings 50, for example for attaching product information, patient data or the like. In this way, for the purposes of a drip solution via the fixing opening 50 the respective container could be suspended on means intended for this purpose (not shown). Furthermore it is possible to couple more than two containers to one another in a row so that within a larger framework the most varied mixtures can be prepared.

To produce the container a so-called bottelpack® coextrusion process can also be used in which the plastic material is extruded in a tube shape and is placed against the inside walls of a shaping tool for shaping the respective container by means of differential pressure (blow molding), the respective container being filled via at least one of its container openings 12, 16 using a filling means with the respective delivery medium and the container opening 12, 16 is closed under sterile conditions by sealing. For extrusion various plastic materials can then be used in the coextrusion process in which the respective container is built up at least partially from several layers of plastic materials, preferably at least one of the layers being used as a blocking layer. The individual layers can be formed from different plastic materials, especially polyolefin, polyamide, polypropylene, low density polyethylene, copolymers and ethylene-vinyl alcohol copolymers. 

1. Container, in particular an ampule, consisting of at least one layer of plastic material, with a delivery chamber (10) in which a delivery medium can be stored which can be delivered via at least one container opening (12) which can be closed by means of a detachable closure part (14), characterized in that the delivery chamber (10) has at least one further container opening (16) which can be closed respectively by means of another detachable closure part (18).
 2. The container as claimed in claim 1, wherein the respective container opening (12, 16) forms a fill and/or removal point for the respective delivery medium which is located on the free end of the neck part (20, 22) which undergoes transition into the delivery chamber (10) and wherein the various types of container openings (12, 16) have neck configurations (20, 22) which are different from one another for connecting different fill and/or removal connections.
 3. The container as claimed in claim 2, wherein one type of container opening (16) has a neck part (22) which tapers conically towards its free end with its outer jacket surface or is cylindrical and wherein the other type of container openings (12) has another neck part (20) which widens conically towards its free end with its inner jacket surface or is cylindrical.
 4. The container as claimed in claim 1, wherein the delivery chamber (10) on its end sides (38, 40) (top and bottom side) facing away from one another and coaxially to its longitudinal axis has one respective type of container openings (12, 16).
 5. The container as claimed in claim 1, wherein the closure parts (14, 18) are made in the form of a twist closure.
 6. The container as claimed in claim 2, wherein the delivery chamber (10) and/or the respective neck part (20, 22) have at least one catch means (42, 44) for engaging at least one corresponding catch means (42, 44) of the respective fill and/or removal connection.
 7. The container as claimed in claim 1, wherein in the direction of at least one of the respective container openings (12, 16) it has fixing openings (50) for attaching product information, patient data, or the like.
 8. The container as claimed in claim 1, wherein it has several layers of plastic materials which can be produced by way of a coextrusion process. 